What’s Cooking? Antipasto wraps

It’s been a hot end of June and start of July for me over here in Europe and I’m all about this month’s Kraft Canada#whatscooking assignment, where we’re looking at recipes that are easy to make and pack for a picnic! Last week I was in England staying with a friend and it was most definitely picnic weather – and too hot to cook. We took stock of what we had on hand – lots of “bits and pieces” – tapas-y, antipasto ingredients (roasted peppers, sun dried tomatoes, some marinated artichokes, which are perfect when you don’t feel like cooking) so I took inspiration from this antipasto loaf to create the perfect hot weather meal (or cocktail snack) to enjoy in the garden or on a picnic.

We used wraps instead of a loaf of bread for this meal and it was fun to create different versions of the wrap according to our likes and dislikes. You can certainly eat the wraps right away (especially if you are not cutting them into smaller pieces) but they definitely benefit from being wrapped in plastic and sitting in the fridge a couple of hours – makes them easier to cut and it also gives the ingredients a chance to take on some of the other flavours. These can be served as is (one wrap per person, cut into halves for easier eating) or cut into smaller rounds for an apéritif or cocktail snack.

Ingredients

250g Kraft Philadelphia spreadable cream cheese (or Philadelphia brick, at room temperature - this will spread less easily so make sure you are gentle otherwise the wrap might tear)

Some examples of fillings include

Pesto or tapenade

Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and roughly chopped

Marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

Roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry with paper towels

Baby spinach or arugula leaves

Fresh basil, roughly chopped

Directions

Set out the filling ingredients.

Spread each wrap with the cream cheese (leave around 2 inches around the edge of the wrap).

Place the fillings on top of the cream cheese layer, starting with the pesto or tapenade - do not stack ingredients on top of each other but rather, layer them side-by-side across the cream cheese.

Working slowly, start to roll the wrap tightly, making sure to not break the wrap as you roll. You might need to tuck the ingredients in as you go.

Wrap each roll tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to eat (a couple of hours). If you are using the brick version of the cream cheese, the wraps will benefit from being in the fridge so the flavours of the pesto/ tapenade etc... can mix with the cream cheese)

Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the wraps into either halves or small rounds (you might need to secure the small rounds with a toothpick).

by Mardi Michels adapted from Kraft Canada

Verdict? These were fun to prepare and tasted great. I love how the are so easy to customise for different tastes and I loved that they tasted great the next day too! A colourful addition to any table or picnic blanket!

Disclosure: As a Kraft Canada #whatscooking contributor, I receive compensation for writing these posts, however, all opinions are 100% my own.